On Wednesday,West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. In the meeting, she asked the PM to withdraw its recent order to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) in border states including West Bengal.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), through a notification published on October 11, amended the BSF Act of 1968 expanding the BSF jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km in border States.

‘The Centre must not disturb the federal structure’, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly told Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the meeting in Delhi, flagging the expansion of the BSF’s jurisdiction in the border States. CM Banerjee has demanded that the amendment to the BSF Act be withdrawn immediately.

She said, “We are not against BSF or central agencies, but it is a question of federalism.”